Title
Natural history of infection with Bartonella bacilliformis in a nonendemic population
Date Issued
01 January 2000
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center
Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
Asociación Benéfica Proyectos de Informática, Salud, Medicina y Agricultura
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Abstract
An investigation was performed after an outbreak of bartonellosis in a region of Peru nonendemic for this disorder. Symptoms of acute and chronic bartonellosis were recorded. Serological analysis was performed on 55% of the affected population (554 individuals), 77.5% of whom demonstrated previous infection with Bartonella bacilliformis. The attack rate of Oroya fever was 13.8% (123 cases); the case-fatality rate was 0.7%. The attack rate of verruga peruana was 17.6%. A new specific immunostain was developed and used to confirm the presence of B. bacilliformis in the biopsied skin lesions. Most seropositive individuals (56%) were asymptomatic. The symptoms that were associated with prior infection, as determined by Western blot, included fever (37.2% of the seropositive vs. 17.2% of the seronegative population; P < .001), bone and joint pain (27% vs. 9%; P < .001), headache (27% vs. 12.3%; P < .001), and skin lesions described as verruga peruana (26.8% vs. 4.9%; P < .001). Our findings suggest that infection with B. bacilliformis causes a broad spectrum of disease that is significantly milder in severity than that frequently reported.
Start page
865
End page
872
Volume
182
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Enfermedades infecciosas
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-0033831540
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Infectious Diseases
ISSN of the container
00221899
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus